Login (DCU Staff Only)
Login (DCU Staff Only)

DORAS | DCU Research Repository

Explore open access research and scholarly works from DCU

Advanced Search

A qualitative examination of factors inhibiting and facilitating professional mental health help-seeking following Injury in sub-elite club Gaelic footballers

O'Keeffe, Sinéad orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-3077-1044, O'Connor, Siobhán orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-2001-0746, Campbell, Mark orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-9607-7675 and Ní Chéilleachair, Niamh orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-7545-0258 (2023) A qualitative examination of factors inhibiting and facilitating professional mental health help-seeking following Injury in sub-elite club Gaelic footballers. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology . ISSN 1612-197X

Abstract
Mental health issues are common in Gaelic footballers, with injury significantly increasing the risk of experiencing symptoms of a common mental disorder. However, professional help-seeking is not common in athletes, with a preference for informal help sources who may be untrained and inexperienced to provide help and support. Participation at the sub-elite, or club, level represents the broadest playing population in Gaelic football and therefore, the current study aimed to examine the barriers and facilitators to professional mental health help-seeking among sub-elite adult Gaelic footballers. Male (n=14) and female (n=13) sub-elite Gaelic footballers with a history of injury participated in a focus group. Focus groups were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Education, the attitudes, actions and opinions of others and accessibility were perceived as key barriers and facilitators to help-seeking among sub-elite Gaelic footballers. Negative self-attitudes to help-seeking and characteristics of the professional help-provider were identified as additional barriers. Interventions aimed at reducing identified barriers must be introduced and professional mental health help-seeking facilitated to ensure Gaelic footballers are managing their mental health post-injury.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Injury psychology; GAA; Recreational players; Barriers; Education
Subjects:Medical Sciences > Mental health
Medical Sciences > Performance
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Health and Human Performance
Publisher:Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
Official URL:https://doi.org/
Copyright Information:© 2023 Taylor & Francis
Funders:Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands-Midwest Seed Funding.
ID Code:29463
Deposited On:19 Jan 2024 10:00 by Sinead O'keeffe . Last Modified 24 Jan 2024 14:28
Documents

Full text available as:

[thumbnail of Author Accepted Manuscript Sub-Elite Barriers and Facilitators.pdf] PDF - Archive staff only. This file is embargoed until 23 December 2024 - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0
558kB
Downloads

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Archive Staff Only: edit this record